Our view: Nina Gregory says her good deed has been repaid by all the well-wishers who visited her this week.

A headline on Tuesday’s front page, in a story about a Chico hardware store owner, said: “Good karma: A true value.” The smaller subhead read: “Honest merchant returns bag of cash to its owner.”

We called the good Samaritan, Nina Gregory, three days later to see if there is such a thing as good karma. We weren’t surprised — knowing Chico like we do — to learn that Gregory’s honest deed was worth it.

“My karma has been repaid twofold,” she said. “I have been able to see old customers I haven’t seen in a long time and have been introduced to new customers who came in just because they wanted to meet me.”

Gregory, the owner of Park Village True Value Hardware on Park Avenue, said people have called the store and stopped by. Some people just wanted to shake her hand. Others gave hugs. One man left her a note saying he had lost his wallet and hopes that if it is found, she’s the one to find it. One man brought in his young child because the boy “wanted to see the lady in the newspaper.”

Gregory said the common theme was that people “were grateful to know there were people in Chico who would do something so honest, particularly at a time when so many people are struggling (financially).”

Gregory was driving down from Paradise on Saturday with a friend, David Chambers, when they noticed a bag lying in the middle of the Skyway. Gregory recognized it as a bank deposit bag.

Chambers pulled his vehicle over and ran into traffic to get the bag. They looked inside and were surprised to find $1,300 in cash, and two checks.

The bag had been lost by Michael McCollester, who collects money from stores that sell the Enterprise-Record. He accidentally left the bag on the roof of his vehicle and it came off on the road. He had no idea where the bag went.

Gregory pieced together the mystery with the help of a bank deposit slip in the bag. On Monday when the bank opened, two days after she found the bag, she found its owner and returned it.

Gregory wasn’t tempted to keep the money but joked about it. As she was driving down the hill with Chambers, his radiator hose blew. The unemployed electrician was facing an expensive auto repair bill and also learned that his unemployment compensation had just expired.

He looked at his broken vehicle and then at Gregory’s bag of money. Both laughed and agreed they had to find out whose money it was.

Gregory wouldn’t accept a reward from McCollester, but says she’s getting one from everybody else. Maybe there is such a thing as good karma.